The Cyborg, The Mabel, And The Empty Robot
by a Mysterious Illusion
Summary: The twins find a Cyborg and a robot without any gears or memory out in the woods, and for some reason Mabel has some kind of control over the half-metal boy. Dipper tries to investigate them while Mabel swoons over the Cyborg, and he starts having weird dreams. Who's the girl who always throws wrenches at him? Why is he irritable all the time? And who's Ed? *AdoptedBySilverQuil*
1. Chapter 1

_Sometimes, I wish our lives were normal. But they're filled with dangerous sea creatures, evil gnomes, and living wax states. And now there's a Cyborg and it's magical robot brother. The weird thing is though, only the robot seems to be sentient. Aren't Cyborgs supposed to have souls and everything because they're not all machine? This one just...sits there until Mabel of all people tells it what to do. It's starting to really creep me out. Maybe the empty robot can tell us what's the deal with them when we get its memory back..._

* * *

*Gravity Falls theme song 'cause I feel like it.*Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da - daaaa daa daaaaa, daa da da daaaa, daaaaa daa daaa da daa da da daaaa. Da da da da da da da, da da da da da da da, da da da da da da da, da da da, da da da. Da da da da da da da, da da da da, da, da, daaaa da-dilingldo.

* * *

Dipper sat upright in his bed in the attic, staring warily at the empty robot in the corner. It hadn't moved since Mabel had given it a battery - as a food bribe to stay put or something - but he still didn't trust it, let alone its...brother.

The Cyborg lay unconscious in the sleeping bag that Mabel had demanded he spend the night in, but Dipper still didn't trust him. Or it. No, it was a him. Even as a Cyborg, the boy still had a full face and mostly his whole body; the only thing out of whack was his right arm and left leg, which were completely mechanical. Dipper wasn't even sure if he _could_ call it - him - a Cyborg. But the boy probably had a chip in his brain or something, because he...well he didn't..._do_ much.

Mabel called him Jeromy; Dipper called him that poor mindless kid.

Dipper sighed as he got back to writing in his journal - meaning the journal he'd found in the woods a few weeks ago when a bunch of gnomes had tried to make Mabel their queen - at the same time as keeping a suspicious eye on the two house-guests.

* * *

_I should probably tell you, whoever might read this in the distant future, how it all began. I'll write this is story form to make it less confusing._

_So, Mabel and I were out in the woods, chasing after some wood nymphs that had stolen the bracelet Mabel's newest boyfriend had given her to stop her crying about their breakup. For some reason, she really wanted it back._

_"Come on, Dipper!" she cried, chasing off in the direction we might have seen the nymph fly off in. "The fairy's getting away!"_

_"It's not a fairy," I informed her, hoping to enlarge her naive mind. "It's a wood nymph. The book said they're cunning masterminds with the ability to-"_

_"I GOT IT!" Mabel screeched, clutching a stray leaf. "But it doesn't have my bracelet! Where are you hiding it?" she demanded of the leaf, holding it in both hands._

_I sighed at her childishness and walked over, grabbing the leaf out of her hand and crumbling it. She gasped. "Dipper! How could you?!"_

_"That wasn't the wood nymph, Mabel," I said impatiently, wishing to just go home before it got too dark. "As I was about to say," I flipped a few pages in my book. "Wood Nymphs are cunning masterminds with the ability to trick people into hallucinating whatever they want them to see. The only drawback is that they can only trick one person within ten feet at a time, so we have to stay together, okay Mabel?"_

_"DIPPER, LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" I looked up to find that Mabel was now nowhere to be seen. Of course._

_"Where are you?" I shouted, looking around. I heard some rustling in a bush nearby and slowly approached, hoping this wasn't just the wood nymphs' tricks making me see something that wasn't there..._

_"BOO!"_

_"AH!" I fell backwards at what I'm guessing the nymphs made me think was a horrible monster, but then I saw that it was only Mabel. "Mabel! How many times have I told you not to do things like that when we're out in the woods? Who knows what's out here!"_

_"I do!" my sister exclaimed, spreading the leaves in the bush to reveal a hole in the ground. "This hole only drops down about four feet, then we walk down a slope until we come to something awesome! Come look!" She disappeared down the hole before I could tell her to stop._

_"Mabel!" I shouted, hoping she'd listen to reason and get out of the strange tunnel._

_"Come. On, Dipper!" she yelled impatiently. "There's a Cyborg down here!"_

_Cyborg? I'd have to take a look. And so, being the fearless leader that I was, I decided to explore what was on the other end of that tunnel, jumping in to a new adventure!_

_But of course, I had to twist my ankle. "Ooh, oh OW!" I yelped. This was probably the work of some...magical force field that prevented good looking boys from entering. This in mind, I hobbled along the one-way tunnel for a shout while before coming to a turn. I turned, and gasped. "Mabel..."_

_"I know, cool right?"_

_I gaped at what was in the small cave before me: First, the walls were all covered in strange markings; they looked like they were supposed to mean something, maybe some kind of ancient language, but it was impossible to tell. Second, there was a boy laying unconscious in the very center of the perfectly cubical cave; he was wearing mostly black clothes - all long, not meant for summer - and a red coat that was so ripped up it was about ready to fall off his shoulders, oh and he had two metal limbs; the left leg, and the right arm, both metal, sleeves and pant-legs ripped up too. Last was the giant headless robot that was chasing Mabel around in circles, trying to get its head from her grasp._

_Wait _what_? "MABEL! GIVE IT ITS HEAD BACK!" I shouted in panic. I couldn't let Mabel get killed by a giant robot! What would I tell Grunkle Stan? What would I tell _MOM_ for that matter? How could _I _live with myself?_

_"Yeah, listen to him! Give me my head back!" Mabel stopped abruptly at hearing the robot talk, turning around to face it as it skidded to a stop. It snatched up the head and attached it to its body again. "Thank you." it said politely._

_Mabel's mouth widened into a grin. "You can _talk?_"_

_The robot looked about as offended as a robot could get. "Yes I can talk! Why shouldn't I?"_

_"Well, you're a robot for starters." I blurted, not thinking about the fact that I was saying it aloud._

_"I'm a...what?" the robot looked very confused. "What's a robot?"_

_Mabel gasped. "You don't know what you are? Well...actually, that makes sense, what with you being, you know, empty and all. You must've had all your memory taken out!"_

_"Empty?" I asked as I cautiously approached, limping heavily on my twisted ankle._

_The robot jumped back. "Um, yeah, I-I can explain that..."_

_"You can?"_

_"Yeah I-" it stopped, looking off to the side as though it was thinking. "I...I can't. I can't remember."_

_Mabel nodded as though she was a genius for figuring it out. "I knew it."_

_"But how can you be empty?" I asked incredulously. "A robot needs moving parts in order to, well _move_, so why haven't you got any? And you know what, I want to see inside you. C-ca-can you s-show me?" I stuttered at the end when I realized this was a weird question._

_But the robot just nodded like it gets the request all the time. It knelt down so I could see the top of its head, and then it _removed_ its head. I gasped. "You really _are _empty..."_

_"Mm, hm," the robot said as it put its head back on. Then it spotted the boy on the ground and gasped. (can robots gasp?) "BROTHER!"_

_"Brother?" Mabel repeated, looking at me questioningly._

_I shrugged and just watched as the robot tried to awaken the Cyborg kid. "Brother? Brother, wake up! Don't leave me now, brother!"  
_

_Mabel walked over to him and held up a finger. "Maybe I can be of assistance." she stated professionally, and I immediately knew what she was going to do. I held my hands over my ears as she shouted, "**WAKE UP, KID, YOUR FREAKY ROBOT BROTHER WANTS YOU!**"_

_The Cyborg's eyes snapped open, causing Mabel and I to gasp. "Gold eyes..." I murmured, thinking I'd read something in the book about that..._

_"Brother, come on!" the robot practically screeched. My eyes widened and I snapped out of my remembering-things daze when I realized the kid wasn't moving. He was just laying there like...well, like death._

_"Hold on," Mabel said, looking a tiny bit nervous herself. She knelt down next to the boy and waved her hand in front of his eyes. They followed. Then she stood up, snatched my arm, and dragged me over to wave _my _hand in front of his eyes. Nothing happened. She waved her hand; eyes followed. She grabbed the robot's hand and waved that; eyes didn't follow. In fact, now that I thought about it, the eyes were on Mabel the whole time. Weird._

_"What does that mean?" the robot asked nervously. "Is brother alright?"_

_"What's his name?" I asked on an impulse._

_"I..." the robot paused again, obviously distressed. "I don't know. I just remember that he's my brother."_

_This just kept getting weirder and weirder._

_"Well, he obviously likes me," Mabel said, staring at him and moving her head around; the eyes followed. "Don't you, Jeromy?" she smiled. Where did she get a name like Jeromy?  
_

_"Yes."_

_We all jumped - including the robot - as the boy spoke. What the heck? "You can talk too?" I asked the kid, moving into his line of sight so he could see who was talking. But he kept staring blankly at Mabel._

_"This is...scary" Mabel said, sitting down next to the boy's head. "Maybe he has a chip in his brain and he can only see me?" I shrugged. She looked back at him and said, "Hey, what's your name?"_

_The Cyborg scrunched up his eyebrows. "You said...Jeromy."_

_"So I was right?"  
_

_The Cyborg remained silent._

_"I don't think that's right..." the robot said nervously._

_Mabel made a sort of humming sound and reached down to touch his head, but I slapped her hand away. "MABEL! You can't just go touching random boys! Maybe he has a brain parasite or something; we don't know how it might spread!"_

_"Oh, relax, brother of mine," she said, smiling. "I think he's harmless. And he's cute anyway, look!" she motioned at the Cyborg's face. "Can we keep 'im?"_

_"No!" I practically shouted. "We can't just keep every strange creature we find in this forest!"_

_"He's not a creature!" Mabel exclaimed, looking horrified that I'd even make such a suggestion. "He's a boy! A normal boy! A normal boy with...golden hair, and a handsome face, and golden eyes, and strong muscles, and... those eyes..." Mabel stopped talking and stared at the kid with a weird kind of desire in her eyes. The kind of desire I saw in her eyes when she met "Norman", her first ever boyfriend, who turned out to be a bunch of gnomes. Only this time her eyes were _sparkling_._

_"Oh, boy." I sighed. "Mabel, we can't just-"_

_"It's decided!" my sister exclaimed, then she stood up. "Arise, my gorgeous knight!" she announced, as if it would do something._

_And as it turned out, it did._


	2. Chapter 2: Figuring Things Out

_"Arise, my gorgeous knight!" she announced, as if it would do something._

_And as it turned out, it did._

_I was just about to tell Mabel how pointless this was when the Cyborg blinked in what might have been understanding and stood up, pushing himself to his feet with the metal arm. This of course, just made Mabel squeal with happiness. Why did the laws of the universe have to bend to what _she _wanted?_

_"Brother?" the robot said hesitantly, reaching out a hand as if to touch the boy. The Cyborg made no indication of having heard; it just kept staring at Mabel. "I don't understand," the robot sounded like it was about to cry - weird. "what's wrong with you? Brother?" For a moment I actually felt sorry for the seemingly terrified robot, then I remembered that robots don't have souls. But...there _were_ some pretty weird things in this forest; I shouldn't rule anything out._

_"Calm down," Mabel smiled up at the empty shell. "He's safe with me! And you can come too if you want!"_

_This was getting out of hand. "Mabel, I don't think that's-"_

_"You're not actually thinking we can leave Jeromy's brother out in the forest, are you?!" Mabel looked downright horrified, but I knew she was just trying to get me to feel sorry for the thing._

_"No, but- - Mabel, listen. We might, and that means _might, _be able to pass the kid off as normal, but we can't just waltz a gigantic robot into the shack and say, 'hey, listen, we found this cool robot thing in the woods and we want to keep it in the attic, that okay with you, Grunkle Stan?'!"_

_...I hate when Mabel smiles like that._

* * *

_"Hey, we found this cool robot thing in the woods, and we want to keep it in the attic, is that okay, Grunkle Stan?"_

_I smiled widely, trying to tell Stan with my eyes, 'I had nothing to do with this!'. He looked up at the robot with wide eyes for a moment, then uncapped his soda. "Yeah, sure, whatever you kids want."_

_I was shocked at how easy that was, but Mabel was cheering. "Yes! Oh, and Grunkle Stan? This is our new friend, Jeromy!" she pointed at the blond kid next to the robot, who had, on an accidental command, magically repaired his clothes ____(Mabel had said, "Now we just have to fix those clothes...")_ - which included gloves - to hide his mechanical parts. "Say 'hi', Jeromy." she urged, grinning more.

_"Hi, Jeromy." the kid said in an almost sarcastic tone. Interesting..._

_Grunkle Stan laughed shortly. "Ha! What a funny guy! Is he rich?"_

_"Um..." Mabel looked at the Cyborg a moment then smiled up at our Grunkle. "He has _gold _ hair! Does that count?"_

_Stan didn't look amused anymore, so he ignored the comment and silently made his way over to the lounge chair on the side porch of the shack, sipping his soda lazily. "Oh hey, Dipper! When you're done getting that pile of junk in the attic, go take out the trash! I was too lazy to do it today."_

_I sighed. "Yes, Grunkle Stan."_

_"Your uncle sounds mean," the robot commented as we started walking toward the front door of the shack._

_"He is," I grumbled. "He's always making _me _do all the chores! I mean, Mabel hardly ever has to, and Wendy won't, and Soos only does things like, clean the toilet; that's an easy job."_

_The robot was quiet for a moment as we entered the shack. It seemed to be taking everything in as we walked past a few exhibits on our way to the stairs. "These things are..." it paused, as if looking for the word._

_"Fake?" Mabel suggested._

_"Obvious?" I added._

_"A pathetic cry for help?" another voice chimed in, causing Mabel and I to jump, all three of us turning to see Wendy leaning against the wall. Mabel quickly grabbed the kid's head and turned it for him so he didn't look like he was a mindless Cyborg quite so much.  
_

_"Wendy!" I exclaimed, my voice sounding totally manly. "What are you doing here?"  
_

_"Just forgot this," she replied, holding up a box of bubble gum before popping some."What's with the medieval armored dude?" She narrowed her eyes. "And what's up with Blank Face over there?"_

_"Oh, well, you see...it's..."_

_"This is my new boyfriend!" Mabel exclaimed, gripping the boy's arm. I couldn't help but stare with widened eyes at that as she continued. "And the robot guy is his brother."_

_"New boyfriend, huh?" Wendy turned her head toward the kid and stared at his face more. "He okay? No wait, don't tell me, you knocked him out and stood him up right there so he can see where you live when he wakes up." She smiled knowingly. "Trust me, kid, that only works on the desperate type."_

_"He's perfectly awake!" Mabel practically shouted. She grinned up at him. "Right, Jeromy?"_

_"Yeah, whatever." came the vague reply._

_Wendy left then, and we successfully got the robot upstairs, though he may have made the doorway to our room a bit taller. Then I took out the trash, and by the time I'd gotten back upstairs Mabel had already commanded the Cyborg asleep and was kissing him goodnight. "Goodnight, my golden angel," she whispered creepily, then hopped into bed.  
_

_"Mabel, you really shouldn't be kissing that kid, even if it is on the forehead," I cautioned. "And what about the robot? How do we know that he won't attack us in our sleep?!"_

_Mabel thought for a moment, then grabbed her grappling hook from under the bed - I hadn't seen that thing in over a week. She shook out the batteries (that thing takes batteries?) and walked over to the robot, handing them over. "Here ya go, a peace offering! May your insides regrow themselves with this robot food!" She grinned._

_"Uh, thanks?" the robot offered, taking them. Satisfied, Mabel climbed in bed and said goodnight. We turned off the lights, and...well I guess I can stop now; that's when I took out the journal._

* * *

"What're you writing?"

Dipper jumped in surprise when he realized it had been the robot that spoke; he'd thought it was off or something judging by how it was just sitting there in the corner. He looked over at it suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"

The robot's head jolted back as though it were shocked. "Oh, I'm sorry. If it's private, that's fine. I was just curious, 'cause you haven't gotten any sleep yet."

Dipper narrowed his eyes. "You've been on all night?" He looked briefly at the clock to find that it said 12:47.

"On?" the robot tilted its head questioningly. "I can't sleep, if that's what you mean."

"Can't sleep..?" Dipper looked down at his journal for a moment, then closed it. "So you can't be turned off then?"

The robot shook its head. "No, I don't know what you mean by 'turned off' though, I'm not a radio or anything like that."

Dipper turned and swung his feet off the bed. "What are you then? Robots need moving parts to work, so you can't be...normal."

The robot shifted, its armor-like body clinking around. "I can't remember much, but I'm pretty sure I used to be like you."

"Like me?" Dipper gasped. "You mean...you were a living kid?"

It - or he...or she - nodded. "I can't remember my name though...I think it started with an A...but..."

"Boy or girl?" Dipper blurted, then realized this was also a weird question.

"Boy," the formerly-thought-to-be-robot said certainly.

"How did you get like that?" This was becoming an interrogation.

"I don't know, but I think brother had something to do with it."

Dipper frowned. "Why would he do that? Wouldn't it be a bad thing to turn your brother into an empty robot?"

The robot kid shifted like he was going to stand up, but didn't. "Look, I don't know what a 'robot' is, but whatever it is, I'm not one. If you must call me anything but a human being, then say armor, since that's what this-" he gestured at himself. "-is. Also," he added. "my brother would never hurt me on purpose. He did it to save my life. I can't remember why I was in danger, but I do know that he bound my soul to this armor when my body was lost."

Dipper gasped. "How do you _lose_ your body?"

"I don't know." The armor hesitated. "You should really get to sleep, you know. Don't worry, you can trust me, um...what was your name?"

"Dipper."

"You can trust me, Dipper. You and your sister seem like the only ones who can help us now; why would I hurt you?"

_'He has a point.' _Dipper nodded. "Okay, fine. But if you hurt one hair on Mabel's head..."

"Got it."

* * *

The next day, Dipper awoke to find that Mabel wasn't in bed. And the two newcomers weren't anywhere to be seen either... "Oh, no, _MABEL_!" Dipper screamed, jumping out of bed. He ran down the stairs as fast as he could, fearing a bloody scene of...blood, and Mabel - dead. But what he found in the kitchen was quite different from what he expected.

"Hey, Dipper!" his sister's voice rang out, the owner of the voice waving madly. She was standing on a stool at the counter, the suit-of-armor-boy was hovering awkwardly in the corner, and the Cyborg was mixing a bowl of cake batter with his metal hand gripping a spoon, a scowl firmly in place. "Guess what! I'm teaching Jeromy how to bake! Isn't he just _adorable_?"

"N-no, Mabel I don't think-"

"You wanna lick the spoon, _boyfriend_?" Mabel asked of the boy, completely ignoring Dipper. The kid shrugged mindlessly and Mabel giggled. "Of course you can!" She took the bowl away from him to poor its chocolatey goodness into a cupcake pan as the kid started licking the spoon, obviously not caring about the taste.

Dipper couldn't believe it. Mabel was under the spell of a handsome boy! He'd seen it again and again on those chick movies she always forced him to watch; HE DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS REAL! "Mabel, stop it. The poor kid doesn't even know what he's doing."

"Sure he does!" Mabel assured, handing the pan to the Cyborg and telling him to "Be a dear and put that in the oven for me?" The kid obliged, hardly blinking when the heat of the preheated oven blasted in his face. "I think he's just sick. But we can find a cure to whatever he's got in that book of yours, right, Dipper?"

"Mabel..."

"Can you try at least?" that was the armor. "Any chance to fix brother...There _might_ be something in that book; Mabel told me it has strange secrets in it."

"_Magical_ secrets," Mabel corrected. She leaned closer to Dipper and whispered, "He doesn't believe in magic. Which is weird, because_ he's_ magic, right?"

Dipper shrugged. "Mabel, I don't think I've ever read anything about Cyborgs in that book."

"Have you read _anything_ about something _similar_ to what he is?"

Dipper paused. Now that he thought about it, he _had_ read something about golden eyes... "Hold on."

He turned and darted upstairs, passing Soos in the hallway ("'Sup, dude?") as he rushed to their room. There, he reached under his pillow for the book: Three. He flipped through it as he walked back down at a slower pace. ("'Sup, dude?")

"Here," he said as he walked into the kitchen to find Mabel and the Cyborg sitting at the table. He showed them all (meaning Mabel and the armor) a page with the drawing of a tall man with long hair, some of it up in a ponytail, a neat beard, and golden eyes behind small, round glasses, the eyes being the only things that were colored. "It says, 'The man with the golden hair and eyes, name: Unknown. I think this man may have been one of the few which may have inflicted upon Gravity Falls the many curses that plague this town. I know not the source of his power, or even his species, though it appears to human in origin. But I saw him approach a dying animal in the forest the other day and heal its wounds with but a touch. The deer's injuries glowed bright red before it hopped up and pranced away. I was in awe of his power, but of course I retain a healthy fear of it.'"

"That's so weird..." Mabel murmured.

Dipper nodded, then pointed lower on the page. "Look, this looks like a later entry. 'The golden-eyed man is gone. I'm not sure what happened to him, but I found what appeared to be his blood - judging by the samples I'd already taken from one the time when he cut his finger on a rosebush - pooled in a clearing deep within the forest. It's been a good month now since I saw the man, and the blood looks old, so I think it's safe to assume he's gone. But whether or not he's alive is another matter; if you ever see a man with golden hair and eyes like this, be cautious. I do not know whether he means anyone harm, but you can't be too careful.'"

They looked toward the golden eyed Cyborg and found him scowling.


	3. Chapter 3: The Source of His Power

**I've officially decided that this is going on between Headhunters and The Hand That Rocks The Mabel for Gravity Falls. I dunno about FMA yet, but I can tell you for sure that it's Brotherhood. (Not that it wasn't obvious from their father's ability to transmute that way; I just wanted to be sure no one missed it.)**

**Oh, and I'm not really replying to reviews on this fic, but, ****OrenjiJemi, I liked yours. Have a magical cupcake. :D**

* * *

"'...I do not know whether he means anyone harm, but you can't be too careful.'"

They looked toward the golden eyed Cyborg and found him scowling.

"Jeromy?" Mabel looked a tiny bit worried. "Is something wrong?"

"Bastard father." the Cyborg muttered.

The twins both gasped.

"Your _father_?" Dipper exclaimed.

"Watch your language!" Mabel commanded.

Dipper gave her a 'really? That's all you care about here?' look before turning to the armor kid. "Do you recognize this man?" he pointed at the picture.

The armor knelt down to look at it and hummed. "I don't...really know for sure. He looks _sort_ of like brother."

"Except older," Dipper mentioned, gazing at the mysterious man.

"And he has a beard!" Mabel added.

"Yeah, that too." Dipper froze suddenly and looked directly at the Cyborg. "Hey, wait. The kid seems to still have his memories even though he's...blank. Mabel, ask him what his real name is, and where he comes from!'

Mabel obliged. "Hey, Jeromy. Where do you come from? And...I guess...do you have your own name? And what is it?"

The boy kept a blank face, but his voice sounded strained. "Home...mother...you said...Jeromy..." A confused look came over him as he said that last part.

_'Like he can't even remember his own name...'_ Dipper picked up a stray pen on a counter and started pacing, clicking it as he went. _'He only remembers the obvious: that wherever he comes from is 'home' and that everyone has a mother. It's like he _has_ to answer Mabel's questions, but he doesn't remember anything.' _"But where did he get that the man was his father if he can't remember?" Dipper muttered quietly.

"Welp," Mabel clasped her hands together in a decided manner. "I'm gonna go show off my new boyfriend around town now. Take the cupcakes out when they're ready, kay, Alexander?" She grabbed the Cyborg's hand and started toward the door.

"Wait, who's Alexander?" Dipper questioned.

"The armor kid!" Mabel shouted as she opened the door in the other room. "He told me what he told you last night, and that his name started with an _A_, so I came up with that!" And before Dipper could even process that she was gone, she'd left.

There was a pause of silence for a moment, then, "She's not going to help us, is she?" the armor asked sadly.

Dipper sighed. "No, I don't think she is right now, but she gets this way sometimes, so just give it a day; I'm sure she'll come around. Until then-" he picked up the book. "-there's a small map here that shows where the owner of the journal found the blood. If that's where the man disappeared, then maybe we can find out what took him, and, if we're lucky, we might find out where you came from as well."

The armor nodded in agreement. "Mm, hm."

* * *

So after Dipper had gotten properly dressed and managed to avoid Stan, he and the armor made their way out of the shack, into the woods, and eventually found what Dipper thought might be the right path.

"Okay," Dipper said as he held up the map. "I think this is it; the trail that leads to where the blood was."

"Are you sure?" the armor sounded nervous. "We don't want to reach another dead end, and who _knows_ what your sister is getting brother into right now!" He sounded panicky.

"Oh, she's probably just making him walk around and smile at people," Dipper waved off. "What else would she do with him anyway?"

The armor stayed awkwardly silent after that.

By the time they made it to the end of the path, the armored boy was carrying Dipper because he was so exhausted. "I think we're here." the armor said, letting Dipper down.

The twelve year old glanced around the very normal looking forest clearing. The only thing remotely strange about it was that there were no animal tracks or insects or...anything here at all. In fact, as soon as they passed a small boulder near the edge of it, all noises except for the quiet sounds of the wind ceased.

"This is...weird..." Dipper pointed out obviously. He looked at the map and walked over to a spot on the ground. "It says here that this exact spot was where the blood pooled the most." He knelt and brushed the dirt with his fingers gently. It seemed as though no grass had grown in this spot for about two feet in circumference for years. "That's odd." he murmured.

"This place gives me a bad feeling, Dipper," the armor said nervously, his childish voice echoing in a shaky way. "I think we should go."

"Not until I find something," Dipper growled quietly, walking around the perfectly circular clearing. "How old are you anyway? Not scared of a few rotting trees, are you?" as he said this he snapped an old tree branch that had been hanging dead inside the circle. The weird thing was, the rest of the tree was perfectly healthy. _'Interesting...'_

"I'm fourteen." the armor replied to his question in an annoyed tone. "And it's not that I'm scared, I just feel something...wrong here. Unnatural."

"This whole forest is unnatural."

"Not like thi-wha-AAAHHH!" Dipper turned from examining a bush to find the armor doing some kind of frantic moon walk, trying to back out of the clearing, but something was pulling him toward the center like a magnet.

Dipper ran over, shoving the book into his vest. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but - HELP ME!" the armor screamed in panic, falling over on his back and trying to pull himself away with his hands. Dipper didn't know what to do, so he just grabbed hold of the hands and started pulling them back towards where they'd come from. The armor boy dug his toes into the dirt to help, and after a good five minutes of struggling they both lay on their backs outside of the weird circle clearing, Dipper panting.

"What..._was_ that?" Dipper gasped, pushing himself into a sitting position.

The armor just shrugged. "I dunno, but let's never go there again, agreed?"

_'Well, it was actually just him that might have been in danger then...so I _could_ just_ _go back on my own. But...then again, I felt ten times as safe with a giant suit of armor with me; going alone wouldn't be fun at all.'_ Dipper nodded. "Agreed."

* * *

Back with Mabel and the Cyborg, a crowd of young girls was flocking the poor teenager at Mabel's new (as of now, because of this experience) favorite ice cream shop. Mabel had commanded the boy to 'act like the beautiful face you are!' and now he was giving everyone that grin that we all know we've swooned over at least once. (You know the one.)

"Alright, alright, BREAK IT UP!" Mabel shouted above all the twelve to fourteen year olds who were asking to feel his muscles. "Jeromy is _my_ boyfriend! And don't you forget it!" Ah yes, the feeling of superiority that came with having an awesome guy who would do anything she told him to.

In case you haven't noticed, she was starting to go mad with what one might call a form of 'power'.

She had the kid sit with her at a table outside the shop, each of them sipping on a straw in the same milkshake; the Cyborg looked almost bored. "So, Jeromy, what do you like about me?" Mabel asked on a whim, grinning ear to ear as he boy stared blankly before answering in a voice that...really didn't express the words.

"You're a sweet, innocent child who doesn't know the difference between good luck and a serious problem."

"Oh, you," Mabel grinned, then she paused. "Wait, was that an insult to my intelligence?"

"No."

She smiled, knowing he couldn't lie to her and began drinking the shake again.

About ten minutes passed, and they were almost done with the milkshake. Mabel was just thinking this was the best date of her life, when:

"ALPHONSE!"

She jumped, spilling chocolate milkshake all over her shooting star sweater, as the Cyborg kid suddenly screamed in horror. For a blink of a moment, he had a look of absolute fear on his face, then it was gone, replaced by that blank look as if nothing had ever happened.

Mabel stared at him warily. "That was...weird..."

She would've tried to get something out of him about it, but just then the girls who had been most attracted to him in the shop came out and called to him in what might have been seductive tones. "Oh, Jeromy!"

Mabel smirked and completely forgot about that 'Alphonse' thing.

* * *

When Dipper and the armor finally got back to the Mystery Shack, it was about three in the afternoon, and Grunkle Stan wasn't happy.

"Dipper! Where have you been?" he shouted as the kid walked into the front door of the shack. The building was filled to the brim with stupid looking tourists, chuckling and poking at random, overpriced junk items, or trying to decide between two souvenirs that looked nearly identical. "We've been up to our necks in business! If that robot toy thing is going to affect your working hours, then it'll have to go."

The armor kid shuddered and Dipper imagined he felt offended by that toy remark. "Sorry, Grunkle Stan! We-I was just, um, taking a walk in the woods and got lost. Won't happen again, I promise!" And before Stan could make any snide remarks, he dashed off to the cash register, giant suit of armor trailing behind him.

"So, your uncle makes you work for him?" the armor said, slightly horrified.

"Yep. And he doesn't even pay me." Dipper muttered. "Why don't you go see where Mabel is? And if anyone asks, you're a giant defective robot toy with a personality."

The armor didn't look too happy about that.

* * *

Mabel had been home by then, and she'd gotten all upset about her cupcakes being burnt for about ten seconds before she decided to just make more. After that, the day went on as normal, which felt weird to Dipper, but he was okay with it; he wanted time to think about what he'd seen in that forest clearing...

That night, Mabel made sure the sleeping arrangements were the same, telling Stan that "Jeromy" had no place to go for the rest of the summer, and promising to make him pancakes shaped like his own face for a month if he let him stay. And who could say no to that?

Dipper sighed as he got into bed, having told the armor kid he would check his journal for anything that might tell them about the circle-like blood place. He got under the covers with a flashlight and flipped to the page with the golden-eyed man, and, finding nothing more on those particular pages, turned the page to find a little paper pocket on the next one. It appeared to have something small and round inside, and there was a note written on the outside: _Whatever you do, no matter how desperate you get, do NOT open this, and do NOT use it; just keep it safe. _

Naturally curious, but respecting that whatever was in there might be dangerous, Dipper decided to read the page before opening the pocket, just to be safe:

_I now know that the golden-eyed man isn't human, even if he once was. I've discovered the source of his power. How I did this was both simple and an accident; I found a large abundance of the man's blood about a week ago, as I wrote on the page before, and I bottled as much of it as I could. I wished to perform experiments on it, to find what's in it, to perhaps find some answers as to what this man was. The tiny supply of blood I had before was minuscule, but now I have enough to fill a jam jar, which I did, along with the small portion I had before. The change wasn't immediate, but over the course of just a couple days of on-and-off heating the blood, I noticed that the old seemed to mix with the preserved blood, making it new again. And it was strange, but the blood began...glowing slightly. No, that's not the word. Shimmering, yes that's it. It was shimmering, and believe it or not, shrinking. Though not quite evaporating, as if it were condensing itself into a small...stone. Yes, you read right, it became a jelly-like substance that I could pick up in my hands, and after a few...undesirable results in testing the object, and quite a bit of research, I've decided that it can only be one thing: The fabled Philosopher's Stone.  
_

Dipper thought he heard someone gasp...then he realized it was him. He swallowed as he stared at the little paper pocket. He'd heard of the Philosopher's Stone before - although he wasn't sure where, probably a history report or something - and he knew how powerful it was supposed to be. The idea that it could be here...right here...in the palm of his hand all this time...

Long pause...

He shook his head. No, he couldn't touch it. He couldn't use it no matter what. He knew what it could do to people; make them go mad with power, destroy whole civilizations... He just couldn't believe it came from that kid's bastard father.

..._Bastard_ father? Huh, it seemed the Cyborg's words had gotten into his head. He must be really tired then. Dipper took the covers off his head and looked at the clock: 1:23. Damn, how long had he been staring at that page? He must've zoned out. Yawning, the boy decided to hit the hay for the night; he'd tell the armor what he'd learned in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4: The Portal

_"ED! GIVE THAT BACK!"_

_Dipper laughed as he ran through the house, chased by a little blond kid as he waved a stuffed cat (not real of course) in the air tauntingly. "You're gonna hav'ta catch me first!" he shouted in a voice that was much younger than he was used to. He payed it no mind, however, as he was tackled to the ground by the little blond kid, who was infuriatingly taller than him, even though something told him the boy was younger._

_The kid grabbed the stuffed animal and began pulling. "LET GO OF MARTEL!" he squealed, throwing a punch to Dipper's face._

_This started what might of been a fist fight if a tall, light-brown haired woman hadn't pulled them apart. "Boys! Stop fighting right this instant!"_

_"Eddy took Martel!" the blond kid whimpered, on the verge of tears._

_The woman gazed firmly at Dipper. "Edward, give your brother his kitty back."_

_"But, Mooom, he kept swinging it around making kitty noise-"_

_"Now."_

_Dipper pouted, but handed over the toy. The boy laughed and hugged the cat. "Thanks, Mommy!" Then he poked Dipper and ran off._

_Dipper was about to follow, but that's when he started hearing voices._ "Dipper...Diiippeerrr...DIPPER!"

* * *

Dipper jumped up in surprise, falling right off the bed and onto the floor. His uncle laughed. "You dreamin' there, kid? That's cute, but dreams don't get me money!" Dipper sat up to find Grunkle Stan all dressed up for looting tourists, fez, cane, and everything. "You slept in so late I forgot you were here!" he laughed for a few moments before glaring at him. "I'm not that old. Now get ready and come downstairs! It's the like rush hour down there."

Once Stan had left, Dipper picked himself off the floor and found that he was alone with the armor. "What time is it?" he asked it/him.

"Um..." the armor glanced out the window. "Judging by the sun, I'd say around ten in the morning."

Dipper blinked. _'Ten in the morning?' _"Where's Mabel, and your brother?"

The armor shifted and he glanced downwards. "Mabel said she was going to make him cover for you with work, but I heard your uncle complaining that she'd gone out for ice cream with 'her new boyfriend' and someone named Wendy had called in sick, so all he had left as a 'work force' was you and someone he called Soos."

"Out for ice cream?" Dipper sighed, holding a hand to his head in exasperation. "So that means I'm going to have to work twice - no, _thrice_ as hard, and I won't be able to look through the book for more clues!"

The armor shifted again. "I could do it if you want. I don't mind work."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Really? Well, um, Stan will probably notice if there's a giant walking suit of armor working my job instead of me..."

"Then I could look through the book while you work," he offered instead. "I think I've done hard research before, so by the time you're done, I'll probably have found _something_ we can work off of."

Dipper hand his hand to his chin in thought... then realized he really didn't want to work in the shack. "Eh, I'm sure Grunkle Stan won't care who's working so long as it's being done."

* * *

"Magic magnet, magic magnet, magic magnet..." Dipper muttered under his breath as he flipped through the book. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he knew it had something to do with the magic invisible magnet thing that had pulled the armor kid in that forest clearing. Though he realized he was probably going about it the wrong way, so instead he stopped flipping on the first page he hadn't already looked at and started reading that. And what do you know, it was about memory loss.

_Magical Causes For Memory Loss: Things to Keep Away From_

_Baby Gnomes:_

_While these things seem as cute as a newborn bird, their bite can inject poisonous acids into your system, somehow getting to your brain and erasing your memory. From the effects I've noted in other magical creatures - who get bit by them all the time - I believe it can cause permanent insanity. I saw one Gnome I believe they call Shmebulock get bitten by one of these cute little terrors, and from what I understand he's lost his mind completely.  
_

_The Pain Hole:_

_I believe some extremely "manly" creatures of the forest can survive - and even test themselves - with this thing. It's simply a hole in the ground that, if any part of your body is placed inside, will cause EXTREME PAIN for no apparent reason. I personally did not dare try this, but I did shine a flashlight down there and saw nothing but an eternal abyss. I have seen Gnomes sometimes fall in there, only to miraculously clime back up, screaming, and have no recollection of anything. How I confirmed that this could happen to even us humans was awakening one evening from dozing during a stake out on the Hole, only to find a grown man who had mistakenly stepped in it. He had no idea who he was afterwards.  
_

_The Portal Of Truth:_

_See page 385.  
_

Seeing this last one (well there were about five more so I guess this third one), Dipper quickly flipped to page 385, which happened to be the last page with anything on it. On that page was the expertly drawn image of a gigantic floating door with weird symbols on it, and in front of it was an odd, humanoid, white(well off-white because the whole page was yellow) thing with floaty black specks around it, and nothing but a creepy smile on its face. All the words looked like the writer's hand was shaking as they wrote them.

The page said:

_The Portal Of Truth_

_I have seen the impossible, probably the worst thing I have ever encountered in my life. Even Bill Cipher's horrors pale in comparison to the hell that is The Portal Of Truth, and I still don't know how I got there._

_I'll put this in vague story form so as to lower the confusion._

_I was taking a stroll in the forest one evening, having made sure to bring every beast repellant I know of - which is a lot - when I unwittingly returned to the forest clearing where the Golden Eyed man had disappeared. (see page 23) The last time I'd been there, I had been so busy with the blood that I hadn't bothered to look around, but this time I got curious and began exploring. I noticed that the clearing was a perfect circle, and that every plant that dare grow into the circle died. Curious, I began searching the ground and was surprised to find old symbols inscribed in the dirt, like some ancient god-calling symbols from olden times.  
_

_I use the term god-calling for good reason. Let me get there._

_I noticed that the symbols on the ground were unfinished, broken as though the Man - who I assumed was the one who'd drawn these - had never been able to finish because of whatever happened to him. Foolish, I decided to finish it just to see what it would do._

_By the time I'd completed attaching every broken line, it was late, and I was tired. So I knelt down on the circle I'd drawn and lowered my head to rest, but just as I may have been falling asleep, there was a flash of light, and I found myself in _that place_._

_The place was too horrible to describe, so I've drawn a picture of it for you, as the memory haunts me so. The creature in front of me seemed exasperated that I was there, and when I asked what it was it told me this: "I am known by many names. I am the world, I am the universe, I am God, I am Truth, I am One, I am All, and I am also, you." It didn't look too happy when it said it, almost like it was simply repeating a tiring routine._

_ After it told me that, it muttered something in another language before telling me I had two choices: go through the Portal of Truth, or stay in this white limbo for the rest of eternity. Of course I chose the Portal, but what a fool I was._

_I was dragged into the floating Gate by horrific black hands and shown...so much. I can't remember everything, but the amount that I do remember is painful, far too painful even now. I plan on going into the forest when this is done and hiding this book, and then I plan to find a baby Gnome to end this mental misery. _

_I ended up back in the clearing when that was over, and I destroyed the symbols as much as I could._

_I've found only now that I'm back home that while I was in there I lost a small portion of my brain, eaten off by those _things_ most likely. (I could tell this by a scan from a magic magnifying glass; page 48.)I believe that's where most of the pain is intensifying. I believe this was payment for seeing all those things, though I can't imagine why anyone would want to see them. So in conclusion, there are possibilities that if one were to go through that like I did...there could be consequences beyond what I experienced: You might lose a limb, or your eyes, or even more vital parts like your heart, or perhaps even your memories.  
_

"Oh, my gosh!" Dipper exclaimed, holding the book away from his face. "This could be it! This could be what happened! But..." he paused. "But what happened to the armor's brother...and how did he get in that armor in the first place?" So many questions, so little answers.

* * *

**So I have a new story rule: NO CHAPTERS UNLESS I GET REVIEWS. Just faving or following isn't gonna cut it. :3 (I just need one review for the chapter to be motivated to update)**

**Also, sorry for the short chapter. I just wrote this one up fast because I was getting writer's block with my main story (somehow) and decided to write something else to refresh my brain. I think it may have worked. :D**

**Anyway please review, few people who I hope will come back to read this.**


	5. Chapter 5: What's Going On?

**Okay, so I've decided when Ed and Al are, and it's after they find out what a Philosopher's Stone is made of, but I won't tell you more because, well, it's not like anyone in the story knows what's going on. C:**

* * *

After Dipper read about The Portal Of Truth, he went downstairs to look for the armored kid only to find that the Shack was completely empty. _'Now where could everyone have gotten to?'_ he thought curiously as he walked around, listening to any kind of noise. He'd thought for sure his uncle had said it was packed...

Dipper realized suddenly that he heard the sounds of laughter and kids screaming outside. So, cautiously so as not to attract unwanted attention, he snuck outside to see a bunch of people crowding around in one spot, taking pictures and handing Soos and Grunkle money. "Oh, shit." Dipper muttered as he saw the armor kid in the middle of all that. Stan must've seen an opportunity for profit and taken it.

_'Did I just curse?'_ Dipper thought with only slight surprise as he walked over to his great-uncle. "Grunkle Stan," he called from right next to him, catching the man's attention for a moment only to have it ripped away by a twenty-dollar bill. He huffed."Grunkle Stan! I must ask you to stop using my robot as an attraction! I'd like to have him back now!"

"Can it, shorty," Stan waved him off. "you can have your toy back when I've rolled in as much cash as possible."

The kid suddenly felt really angry. "DAMN IT, STAN, LISTEN TO ME!"

There was a collective gasp among the crowd as Stan froze, still reaching for someone's ten. He slowly turned then, narrowing his eyes. Dipper gulped and totally regretted shouting. _'What's gotten into me?' _"What did you just say?" his uncle demanded in a low and dangerous voice.

"U-um, I-I just..." he stammered, then trailed off, swallowing nervously. "I said, um...please...allow me to, um, take out the trash! Yeah! There are lots of people here, s-so there'll be a lot of trash!"

His uncle nodded curtly then got back to taking people's money. As Dipper went off to clean out the trash cans, he noticed a bunch of little kids climbing onto the armor like a giant ride. He didn't seem to mind. _'It's almost as if he likes playing with little kids.'_ Dipper smiled, suddenly getting the seemingly random image of a little girl with pigtails and a big white dog running around with the armor. It seemed really sweet, but the image made him sad for some reason. Why was that?

He shrugged it off as he hauled the garbage bag - which was, infuriatingly, almost twice his size - away to the Bottomless Pit, where he simply threw it in. He smiled triumphantly, hands on his hips, then turned to leave, only to be stopped by a** _giant__ man_** standing in front of him WITHOUT A SHIRT. "SHIT!" he yelped for the second time that day, tripping backwards and falling into the Bottomless Pit; as he fell, the man seemed to just vanish as though he were never there.

Dipper screamed his ears out for a while, but then he realized he wasn't hitting the bottom any time soon, so he just zoned out and began to wonder if anyone in the distant future would find his body. Then, about half an hour later, he saw light at the bottom of the hole; before he had time to think about how IMPOSSIBLE that was, he found himself sprawled out on the ground next to the Bottomless Pit, which he concluded was indeed bottomless. _'Okay, let's not question that.' _he thought to himself as he walked back to the shack, where the armor was now talking to Mabel, and the Cyborg was just standing there. _'Not question it?!' _some part of his brain replied. _'Did you NOT see what just happened? That's impossible; we need to check it out.'_ Dipper decided to ignore his curiosity.

"Dipper!" Mabel screeched as he got close. "Where have you been?! Everyone was looking for you; I thought the Gnomes got you or something!"

Dipper smiled weakly. "The Gnomes didn't get me; they want a queen, remember?" he looked at the Cyborg and found it looking straight at him. "Um, what's his problem?"

Mabel looked over at the kid in surprise. "I dunno," she got an idea and grinned. "Maybe he likes you too now! Try talking to him!"

Dipper really didn't think there would be any difference in the kid right now, but he'd just fallen through a bottomless pit without hitting the bottom, so he wasn't in the mood to contradict Mabel. "Okay..." he smiled awkwardly at the seemingly mindless kid. "What's up?"

The kid blinked, but didn't say or do anything more.

Then Dipper remembered something. "Oh hey, guys, I found something in the book last night that help us figure out what's going on. Also before I came downstairs this morning." he added.

"You did?" the armor exclaimed, bringing his hands together like Dipper vaguely remembered seeing kids do in those old movies Stan made him watch that one time. _'I'll never get that day back...'_

"Yeah," Dipper grinned. "let's get inside and I'll show you."

* * *

When they got inside, they went up to the attic and Dipper showed them the pages, taking turns with the armor to read parts aloud. Then once they were done with both of the pages, they all stared at the pocket in which the Philosopher's Stone was supposedly kept - even the Cyborg.

The silenced stretched on, until Mabel got bored. "So we gonna open it?"

More silence. Then Dipper sighed. "I dunno, Mabel, this gives me a really bad feeling...and deja vu." Dipper added uncertainly.

"Me too," the armor agreed, shifting slightly. "It feels like the Stone shouldn't exist; like it's wrong." Dipper nodded.

"Oh, don't be such sour candies!" Mabel exclaimed, reaching forward. Dipper didn't protest as she undid the tiny button thing. She reached in, grabbed what was inside, and pulled it out in a clenched fist. Dipper and the armor leaned forward slightly to watch as she slowly uncurled her fingers; they all stared. "Sweet silly Sally sassafras." she murmured, realizing the power that was in the palm of her hand.

"Yeah..." Dipper and the armor both murmured in agreement. _'What's in that thing to make it glow like that?'_ Dipper thought curiously. _'It's like it's...alive...'_

_'It kind of is,'_ something in his mind - like an instinct or something - told him. But whatever it was didn't explain what it meant.

"Th-that..." the armor stood back a tiny bit. "How could that have come from blood?" his voice was so quiet in the whisper that it might've been mistaken for a breath.

Dipper shook his head uncertainly, but he had a weird feeling, almost like he was angry about something. _At_ something... The Stone? No... The man who's blood made the Stone? Yeah, that seemed about right. His fists clenched as he wondered how the _hell_ that bastard's blood had created this. "Let me see," he demanded suddenly, catching the other two off guard with the strain in his voice. He reached out a hesitant hand, looking at Mabel expectantly. "I wanna see it."

His sister suddenly looked a tiny bit wary; finally, she realized the severity of the situation. She handed it over.

And the moment it touched Dipper's skin, he screamed.

* * *

**Sorry for the shortness (*gets hit by Ed who's personality has been hiding out with me the whole time*) of the chapter, but...I dunno. It had to end there I guess. *sheepish grin***

**I think the next chapter will be longer, and don't worry, guys, no matter how long it takes me, I will NEVER leave a story unfinished! *heroic music in the background* So chill with the 'continue this's because I always shall. :D (Well, okay only one person said that, but another sounded like they thought I was giving up on it, and a couple others seemed worried I would, so...)**

**EDIT: I should probably have mentioned that Armstrong was a hallucination caused by the obvious something-about-Ed-is-affecting-Dipper thing. **


	6. ADOPTED

**Alright, so listen up! This story has been adopted... (*cries silently in the corner*I'msorryI'msorry) By Silver Quil. It has the same name and stuff...so, you know what, I think I'll leave this up so y'all know. Yep. That's what I'll do.  
**


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